I've been asked to describe Cedric Benson the last few days and the best words I can come up with are disinterested and absent.  He just never seemed to care about anything...about his teammates, about his job, about football, about how he was perceived by anyone, etc.  He just wants to float thru life and have a good time...do the minimum necessary to keep the status quo and that's it.  Since I met him and know him only on a professional level, I thought maybe I just misunderstood him.  I asked him that once...are you misunderstood?  His answer...he didn't really care if he was misunderstood.  People come from different backgrounds, they have different experiences in life and that makes them different.  So he didn't really care...that's just the way it was.   I've heard people describe him as selfish.  And I can see how they would think that.  But if he were selfish, he would have done more to protect himself and his future...even if he didn't want that future to be with the Bears...he has to know his actions will affect future employment possibilities.   I'm just not sure he cares to be a football player and all that goes along with that.   And that said, how much blame should the Bears share in all of this?  Should not their very extensive evaluation process have revealed these character issues before he was drafted?  By all accounts, other teams saw these tendencies in him before the draft and shied away from him.  Or maybe, as they've stated in the past, they felt he was past those youthful indiscretions and unmotivated tendencies and worth the risk.  That risk has not been rewarded.  It's the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me."  How many times do the Bears have to be fooled before they figure it out?  Now they're left with no real starting running back, pinning their hopes on rookie Matt Forte...couple that with an offense already lacking big time play makers (Devin Hester aside) and you've got some major problems which you won't be able to address before the season starts.   Cedric Benson wouldn't have made a huge difference in the grand scheme of the Bears offense.  But his departure isn't going to help.  As my Tribune colleague, David Haugh, put it...Benson's presence is the difference between a 7-9 season and a 5-11 one.  Either way...it's not good.

Association football, commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world.[1][2][3][4][5] It is a football variant played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field, with a goal at each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by manoeuvring the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.

The modern game was codified in England following the formation of The Football Association, whose 1863 Laws of the Game created the foundations for the way the sport is played today. Football is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football), commonly known by the acronym FIFA. The most prestigious international football competition is the FIFA World Cup, held every four years. This event, the most widely viewed in the world, boasts an audience twice that of the

THE LAKERS OR CELTICS

I think the Bears should suspend him, not only has he had poor performance, he has a "I don't care" attitude. The last thing the Bears need this season is a non-contributing trouble maker.

Cedric Benson.

Busted for boating while drunk, and resisting arrest.

Time for Benson to sail out of Chicago.

He's a Bear running back bust,  right up there with Rashaan Salami.

More importantly, Jerry Angelo needs to be consistent.

He shipped (I'm in the)Tank Johnson

out of town for the Tankster's stupidity.

Time for Captain Cedric to go.

Come Jerry, have some kahunas.

Make the move.

Pull the trigger.

The real puzzling part about this whole thing?

It's been 24 hours and no dumb ass lawyer

has come out and said, "Cedric's innocent. It's a mistake."

Sure, it's always a mistake.

Like Clemens was a mistake.

Like Bonds was a mistake.

Like Pacman was a mistake.

The list goes on and on.

ESPN football analyst Mel Kiper looks like Dracula.

Give this guy a cape and fangs and he's Bela Lugosi reincarnated.

Speaking of ESPN, have you heard of half of the analysts they use?

Can't nail him on steroids.

Get him on the affair.

Roger Clemens: the liar(Congress), the cheat(steroids) and the cheater(on his wife)

Pacman Jones gets a three year contract with the Cowboys.

He ought to be signing a three year lease to live in a looney bin.

Once again, degenerates get rewarded.

Come on, give it up.

Larry Brown takes a job in Charlotte as head coach.

He's going to become the first person in history to

coach every NBA team. 

What a stumblebum.

Free agency rears its ugly head again.

Barry Zito...banished to the bullpen.

Nice move by the Giants spening zillions on this bust.

In fact, I think a bust of Zito would be better than the real life Zito.

The NBA playoffs are way too long.

Come on, two months of this stuff.

At least they shouldn't take so much time off between games.

Oh yes, I forgot, TV revenue.

It's too early for this to be happening to me.  Perhaps it's because the Bulls were so disappointing this season and didn't make the playoffs.  Perhaps it's because my up and coming Blackhawks didn't make the playoffs either.  But I am glued to the television or radio watching or listening Cubs and White Sox baseball.  Don't accuse me of being a fence sitter...I have to be!  But I could not be more pleased with the way each team is playing (tonight's botched pick off/rundown by the Sox aside).  The Cubs did everything right in blasting the Bucs 13-1 Saturday...another D-Lee homerun..a successful double steal leading to a throwing error and another Cubs run...Jason Marquis pitching well and helping his own cause with a solid day at the plate...they have been fun to watch.  And while the White Sox were blanked five-zip by the "don't call me Devil" Rays in Tampa...sometimes you have to tip your cap.  Sonnanstine pitched a great game.  He must have to silence the bats of the A.L.'s second leading offense.  But I like their spunk...I like their belief in each other.  And I like that other than rundowns, they are a very solid defensive team.  It's only April 19th and already I'm excited about the postseason...there's something wrong with me!

Just when you thought things were looking up for the Cubs...Bam!...Alfonso Soriano hurts his calf muscle doing his little jump before he catches a fly ball Tuesday night.   I believe this qualifies as what manager Lou Piniella termed a "Cubby occurrence".   It's not like Soriano was off to a red hot start.  He's still hitting under .200.  But having him at the top of the lineup was working well.  And now Lou and Jim Hendry have to find someone else to fill that spot.  And if you look at who they have on the roster right now and who they might call up...none screams out at you as a true lead off hitter.  Soriano was hardly that either, but he did make the Cubs lineup a formidable one in terms of what he COULD do.  And that gave the guys in the order around him better at bats.  His presence will be missed.    The Cubs are going to have to overcome this injury and no doubt a number of other unexpected "occurrences" if they're to put an end to their World Series drought.  May as well get them out of the way now, I suppose.

What a horrible day for baseball...horrible for pretty much anything but curling up on your couch and watching baseball (or golf).  And yet the White Sox Gavin Floyd carried a no-hitter thru the rain and into the eighth inning.  He wasn't perfect...struggled with his control at times in walking four.  But the Sox played great defense behind him as he pitched with a nice pace.  And Floyd appeared confident thru it all...which brings me to this.  Who is this Gavin Floyd?  He's been the Sox best pitcher so far this young season.  But little in his past would have foreshadowed this awakening.  True... he's pitched well against the Tigers...now 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 4 starts vs. Detroit.  But his two wins this season boosted his career record to 10-10.  Today's game was the first time he's gone more than seven innings in the majors.   After the game, A.J. Pierzynski said Floyd has a different demeanor, on the mound and in the clubhouse.  He feels like he belongs.  Floyd admits as much, saying it felt like he was pitching in someone else's body the last two years.  But he's starting to feel like himself again.  Whatever you're doing, Gavin, keep it up.  You no doubt made the rain soaked fans happy they braved the weather. 

The Ugly Monkey Is Off The Detroit Tigers Back!

Weather-wise, I'm glad the White Sox have the day off.  It's cold and rainy and making me sleepy...things that don't bode well for my ride home or for playing baseball.  But when you're on a streak like the Sox have been on...winners of five straight...then a break in the action isn't exactly what you want.  They're feeling good about themselves, seem to enjoy each other's company and the clubhouse is electric, both before and after games, according to closer Bobby Jenks.   You want to keep the good times rolling!  And that's not to say they're not going to resume playing great baseball and picking each other up tomorrow.  I believe they will.  And I'm sure it's nice to unpack, do some laundry...heck, for some of the guys, it's important just a find a place to live!  But I'm sure they wouldn't have minded playing until they cool off.  The same goes for the Cubs, who've figured out ways to win in four of their last five games despite being kind of shaky in a number of areas.  As I mentioned the other day, defense and pitching wins championships.  And I've not seen great defense from the Cubs...I haven't even seen good defense.  Perhaps some of that can be chalked up to the new infield at Wrigley.  It will take time to adjust...but now that they're in Pittsburgh, there's no excuse.  Half of the order is still struggling to find its swing...Ted Lilly has yet to find any rhythm...and yet they're finding ways to win.  That's a good sign as they move forward and no doubt start playing better defense and pitching better too.  But I'm going to miss watching baseball tonight.  Guess I'll have to watch American Idol live!

I'm one of those eternal optimists...not!  Definitely a glass half empty kind of gal.  But I still have high hopes for the baseball season...not just on the north side, but I believe the White Sox will surprise a lot of folks as well.  Of course, for my rare positive thinking to come to fruition, both teams are going to have to play a lot better than we've seen so far.  The Cubs aren't playing good fundamental baseball at all.  The White Sox are fortunate A.J. Pierzynski (a Final Word contributor every other Sunday...shameless plug!) had a huge day at the plate or Jose Contreras' ineffectiveness would have been exposed again.  John Danks is the Sox best starter so far...and he's hardly been Mr. Consistency.  But the Sox offense appears to be out of its season-long funk of '07.  And that's a great sign.

The Cubs are starting this season as they did the last...which isn't entirely a bad thing, considering how they finished.  But I think the Brewers are going to be in it for the long haul this time.  And the Cubs can't afford to fall too far behind early on.  Kosuke Fukudome is the best thing going...I love the way he plays.  But the rest of the team hasn't looked sharp.  WAKE UP!!  Hopefully they will in a hurry.

But again, I reserve the right to be positive...for it is early and there are 158 games to go!